Cardinals Demoting No. 20 Prospect, Bringing Back Ryan Fernandez

Mar 10, 2025; Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Ryan Fernandez (64) throws a pitch during the fifth inning against the New York Mets at Clover Park. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

Cardinals Demoting No. 20 Prospect, Bringing Back Ryan Fernandez

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated May 26, 2026 8:14 AM ET

Add us as a preferred source on Google

The St. Louis Cardinals are expected to give the bullpen a boost on Tuesday.

Over the weekend, the Cardinals promoted No. 20 prospect Brycen Mautz with the expectation being that he would make his big league debut and get a start for St. Louis. That didn't happen as the club's series finale against the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday was postponed due to bad weather. So, instead, the Cardinals used him out of the bullpen on Monday against the Milwaukee Brewers as his big league debut.

Mautz pitched three innings against the current National League Central leaders and allowed two earned runs while striking out two batters.

Brycen Mautz picks up his first strikeout for the @Cardinals in his MLB debut: pic.twitter.com/cWPMLgiGvH
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 25, 2026

The expectation was that his trip to the majors may not be a long one and that will be confirmed on Tuesday. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported after the Cardinals' 5-1 loss against the Brewers on Monday that Mautz will be sent down to the minors on Tuesday and Ryan Fernandez will be recalled back up officially to the big league club.

The Cardinals Are Bringing Ryan Fernandez Up

Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

"Cardinals will recall Ryan Fernandez for the bullpen. He will be active tomorrow," Goold wrote. "They are optioning Brycen Mautz to Memphis after his MLB debut and three innings today."

It's absolutely the right call and was the expectation heading into the contest on Monday. He was technically sent down to the minors on paper on Sunday after being the extra man during Saturday's doubleheader. But it was known that he would be back, especially with Matt Svanson sent down to the minors.

Fernandez has made five appearances in the majors with St. Louis so far this season and has a 1.17 ERA in 7 2/3 innings of work. He also has made 13 appearances down in Triple-A and logged a 3.07 ERA in 14 2/3 innings of work.

The timing of Fernandez being back up in the majors and Svanson heading to Triple-A is good. The Cardinals' bullpen has been among the weakest in the league overall with the 22nd-ranked bullpen ERA at 4.41. Svanson was a big part of that with an 8.77 ERA in 24 appearances for the club before he was sent down to Triple-A over the weekend.

Fernandez can help the club now and they need it. St. Louis has lost four of its last five games and now is 2 1/2 games behind the Brewers for first place in the division.

This article first appeared on St. Louis Cardinals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: